A Moment in History
by Darth Malleus
Summary: As the Kyubi no Kitsune descends upon the Hidden Village of Konoha, as Madara begins his plans to bring 'peace' to the world, he is unaware of three figures, watching him from atop the Hokage Mountain.
1. Prologue, The Darkest Hour

_**Naruto**_

_**A Moment in History**_

_**Chapter 1**_

_**The Darkest Hour**_

It was a massacre. The village hadn't been the least bit prepared for the utter malicious destruction which fell upon it. The Kyubi no Kitsune, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, the most powerful tailed demon in the history of the world had descended upon the Hidden Ninja village of Konohagakure like a vengeful god.

Superstructure was crushed and shattered as it appeared as if out of the air itself. Clawed hands and feet digging into the ground, destroying homes and taking away countless lives. Its great roar shaking the very rock of the towering Hokage Mountain and decimated everything within twenty meters of it. Countless people fled in every direction, carrying what they could.

But within moments of the beast's arrival the village's considerable army of Shinobi fell upon it. Hundreds of men and women flew across the rooftops and through the streets of their home towards the huge colossus.

The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, looked up from his vantage point at the creature, dressed from head to toe in his old armour, almost amazed that it still fit. He caught a puff of smoke from the corner of his vision, and relaxed when he recognised him as a member of the ANBU black ops. The man was dressed from head to toe in the traditional armour, a katana sheathed to his back and a mask on his face.

"Sandaime Hokage-sama." The elite operative called out, "It's the Kyubi. The Kyubi attacked the village without warning!"

The old man nodded his head, while tying his last metal armguard in place, "I know, I'll hold it back. Gather and protect the villagers!"

"Yes, sir,"

"Did Kushina's seal fail," Hiruzen wondered out loud, "Were all the safe-guards we put in place really not enough?"

The elderly man thought of his wife in that moment. Biwako was the midwife, in charge of helping Kushina give birth. What about Kushina, Minato and their child, what happened to them? He quickly perished the thought. There was a battle to fight, a village to defend. He would worry about his wife and successors family later.

The elderly Hokage took a deep breath, bent his knees and took off to the rooftops with a chakra propelled leap, ready to rally the forces of Konoha against this threat.

He rushed from rooftop to rooftop towards his destination, the main street of the village, stretching from the Hokage palace to the main entrance of the village. He stood there, knowing that an army of Ninja were forming ranks all around him. The grand army of Konoha was forming with him as its centre-peace.

He bit his finger, and making the hand seals for the boar, dog, bird, monkey and ram before slamming his hand into the ground, circles of black runes appearing on the cobblestone. An explosion of white smoke summoned his contracted partner, the monkey king, Enma. The summon appeared before him, already formed in the symbolic huge staff which he was famous for. Without a word Sarutobi grabbed the staff and fell into a defensive position.

"Everyone," he shouted, knowing all could hear him, "Move out!"

"Yes, sir," over a hundred voices replied, immediately and without hesitation.

* * *

"So you noticed me already?" Minato asked, more to himself than anyone else as he surveyed the great beast before him. The monster starred at him with eyes of malice and hate, which he returned it with a cold indifference which would have chilled most opponents.

Instead the Kyubi opened its maw. A ball of dark crimson energy swirling into existence, at the same time the Yondaime Hokage brought his hands together in a simple sign, completing his Jutsu just as the fox fired its lethal salvo.

"Not on my watch!" The ball of energy, strong enough to obliterate the very mountain he was standing on, was swallowed up by a black void, completely erased from existence in a single second. Silence fell before the explosion came, but not in the village, a huge dome of blinding light appeared in the distance, completely annihilating a stretch of forest a mile wide.

Minato let out a breath, before settling his gaze on the beast once again. His first thought was that he needed to find his predecessor, and let him know about what happened. He needed to join his fellow Kage and rally the army against this threat.

The Yondaime caught movement from the corner of his eye, and moved with reflex born from years of combat experience and training. He spun on his heel. A three pronged kunai in hand as he moved and stabbed the deadly weapon right into the side of the head of his attacker.

The man wore a black robe, his face completely hidden by an orange swirling mask. The same man who threatened Naruto's life and nearly killed his beloved to take control of this monster.

For a moment the Hokage thought he had him, but he was wrong. Looking on with shock as the man reached through his hand like a wraith and grabbed his wrist. The Yondaime Hokage looked into the emotionless visage.

"You will face me," the man said with conviction, "And were done!"

Minato knew a space-time Jutsu when he saw it. He felt his vision blur as his body was forced from one dimension to another. Quickly he activated his Hiraishin, his Flying Thunder God technique, vanishing in a flash of white from the man's attack.

"He teleported," the assassin muttered, looking at the hand which only moments ago held his targets wrist, "Talk about fast. Next time I'll warp you the moment I lay my hand on you!"

Without another word he vanished from existence, like a wraith from the ancient legends. He was completely unaware that three sets of eyes were watching him from further up the mountain, on the very top, looking over the edge, stood three figures, covered from head to toe in long, flowing black cloaks, hoods completely obscuring their features from any curious eyes.

The first who spoke was the soft voice of a woman, "So that's what the Kyubi looks like eh?"

"Yea," the central figure replied, also starring at the beast.

"Hn," was the nonchalant reply of the other.

"That gets annoying after a while," the other man replied, only to be given the universal gesture to go screw himself. He chuckled.

"So what's the plan," the woman asked.

"You're asking me?"

"You do have a plan, right?" the other man replied, turning his head to look at his companion.

"Are you kidding," the first asked with a mix of surprise and disbelief, "I'm making this up as we go."

"I should have known,"

The leader turned to look at the companion to his right, "Go to the hut on the other side of the valley. Try and save my Mother and as many within as you can."

The young woman nodded, before vanishing in a swirl of wind and leaves. Before the leaves even settled the first turned to his compatriot, their eyes unflinching. "You get the bastard, track him down and help my father defeat him."

The other nodded his head, but remained for a moment, "What are you planning to do?"

The leader turned to look at the monster rampaging through the village, "I'm going to fight fire with fire."

* * *

Minato landed in a heap, immediately jumping to his feet and fighting the wave of nausea which hit him from a split second use of the technique. Immediately his thoughts were in turmoil. His strike had slipped straight through him, but his opponent became solid enough to immobilise him in place. The move he used was powerful, and a second later he would have been trapped or killed. What the hell was that?

He watched as the mask appeared, a swirl of black lines which slowly took a shape and materialised, showing his opponent to him once again. The man said a few words with a certainty born of a warrior with considerable combat experience, "You won't escape me!"

Minato starred into the swirling orange mask once more, his mind already rushing through all the evidence to a logical, or illogical conclusion. This man used the same technique he used when he kidnapped Kushina, a space-time Jutsu if he interpreted the signs the way he did. He defeated elite members of the ANBU black ops without alerting him, got past the most powerful top-secret barrier techniques the village had, and knew that Kushina's seal would be at its weakest when she was giving birth. Furthermore with the seal undone he marched right into the heart of the village, took control of the Kyubi no Kitsune and set it lose against Konoha.

The more he thought about it the more insane he thought it was. But there was no other explanation. Only a handful of men were capable of such feats, all either dead or unquestionably loyal to him and the village. There was only one man who was capable of all of this and had the intent to do it.

"Are you Uchiha Madara?"

Any other time Minato would consider this a stupid question. Uchiha Madara had been considered dead for many years. Instead of responding the man reached up with gloved hands and removed his cowl, revealing black hair around his mask. Even then Minato began to doubt his own thoughts.

"No, that can't be possible. He's long dead."

"Oh," the man replied idly, "I don't know about that."

Minato frowned, "On second thought it doesn't matter who you are. But why did you attack Konoha?"

"Oh you know," the man replied, tightening his hands into fists, "its fun. It's part of my plan to start a war…to bring peace!"

Minato's seasoned mind was already going through the pros and cons of fighting his opponent. He was a worthy enemy to fight. He wielding space-time Jutsu like it was Childs plays, besting the Nidaime Hokage's and even his own abilities. He was able to control the Kyubi no Kitsune and summon it right into the heart of Konoha. If he didn't stop this man here and now he would be a greater threat to the village than the Kyubi could ever be.

The man who could be Madara Uchiha came right at him, a chain appearing in his hands, "There's no hope for any of you!"

Minato countered, lunging at his attacker with his specially made kunai already in hand. He would get his strike in first. His attacker's movements were too slow to evade him. He watched as he went straight though him, as if the man he thought was Madata were a simple elusion made to catch him off guard.

He watched as the long chain looped around him, making him completely immobile against his enemy's next strike. He turned his face to watch as his attacker began to loop another circle of metal around him. Then he activated his Hiraishin, and was gone, reappearing ten meters away, crouched like a predator and ready to strike.

Minato had already analysed his opponent's movements and main attacking Jutsu. If this was the Uchiha Madara of legend then he was considerably weaker than he was in his prime. It could either be because he was directly controlling the Kyubi, or his age was hampering his movements. Attacking Minato at all was a big risk for his opponent, especially if he could only keep the Kyubi summoned and controlled for a short period of time. It was all down to timing, and speed. Whoever strikes a split second earlier would win.

The two charged, and Minato threw his kunai directly for his opponents head. He watched as it slid through as if he weren't even there. By the time it had broke through to the ringed end he and Madara were face to face. Madara was a few inches away from grabbing the Yondaime, yet the Hokage already had a fully formed Rasengan ready in his right hand.

Madara smiled behind his mask, he had won. "Gotch-"

Before he could finish the Yondaime vanished, only to reappear directly above him, already driving his Rasengan directly onto his back. Minato had teleported to the kunai he had just thrown. It was an incredible move, more based on luck than ability.

"That was the Hiraishin no Jutsu," Minato explained as he felt his Rasengan slice through skin and cartilage, "Version two!"

The following explosion was immense, enough to send fissures cascading through the rocky ground and send tons of stone and debris flying in every direction. Madara faded back into existence at the edge of the destruction, rapidly releasing and inhaling ragged breaths, right hand moving to grab the left, which remained limp, blood dripping from the digits of his fingers.

He barely had time to breath before Minato was there, right in front of him, kunai already stabbed through his abdomen. He released a sharp breath before levelling a glare upon his opponent. The symbol which activated the Hiraishin no Jutsu, he must have placed it somewhere on his body. Minato raised a hand, and slammed it onto his chest, circles of sealing runes stretching out across his clothing, burning through to his skin.

"A contract seal," Madara thought out loud, "Are you trying to pull the Kyubi from my control?"

"No," Minato replied, his voice a dead monotone, "I've already done that. He's no longer your weapon!"

As if on cue he heard the Kyubi's roar of anger and outrage, the very noise spreading across the landscape, across the valley which Konoha rested in. Minato immediately cursed his lack of attention as his opponent vanished into nothing, reappearing on top of a ridge above him.

"You deserve the title of Yondaime Hokage, really you do. Managing to wound me and wrest the Kyubi from my control all in one attack." He knew the man was glaring down at him, "But it will be mine again. The fox and this world will bow to me. Many doors are still open."

His whole body began to lose cohesion and swirl, all around the centre-point of his mask. But something happened. He was half gone, and then the technique seemed to reverse itself. His body slowly reforming into its normal state, Madara looked down, his mask obscuring his face, but Minato had a feeling he was surprised.

"What-" was all the man had to say before another voice echoed behind the assassin. It was cold and calculating.

"Where do you think you're going?" from the darkness a figure appeared, his face half hidden behind a billowing black cloak and deep hooded mask. Minato could make out a short sleeved white shirt, open at the torso, black pants with a dark blue cloth which stretched from his waist to his knees. Around his waist was a purple rope tied in a bow, and a katana sheathed in a black scabbard to the small of his back.

But it was the eyes which got his attention. It was impossible not to see them. They seemed to glow from the shadows of his hood, Crimson irises with three black tomoe markings, spinning in a clockwise motion, a fully formed Sharingan. "We are not finished here Uchiha Madara, not by a long shot!"

* * *

Kushina hugged Naruto tightly, not wanting to let her baby go for even a second. He was her baby, and she would protect him for as long as she was able. That was her way, and she swore to whatever gods that were listening that she wasn't going to change it now.

Minato was out there right now fighting for them, it was all she could do to honour him and stay alive. The removal of the Kyubi no Kitsune from her was a harsh and unforgiving experience, sucking the life from her. If she were not blessed with the long lifespan and the incredible regeneration of the Uzumaki clan then she would already be dead.

Of that she had no doubt.

She opened her eyes, forcing her tiredness aside, and looked at the beautiful face of her sleeping baby boy. He was so beautiful to her, his sleeping face, the whisker markings on his cheeks, that tuft of blonde hair was all perfect to her. The result of her and Minato's love was this child. How she would love to live and watch over him, raise him, and see him become a young man she and Minato would be proud off.

It seemed so cruel that she be taken from him, just after he had been born.

She looked across the floor of the small hut she was in, her turquoise eyes looking at the fallen bodies of Biwako Sarutobi and Taji, two dear friends who she trusted to serve as the midwives in her birth. Both were dead now, killed by the orange masked assassin, she had no doubt of it and shed tears for them.

She heard a creak from the wooden oak door leading to the outside, and turned to see a single figure, his or her form concealed in a black cloak and deep hood which hid their features. Immediately she panicked, thinking that this newcomer was another assassin to kill her and her baby boy. She tried to rise, but found that she could not even manage that.

"Oh my," the figure spoke in a soft feminine voice as she surveyed the room, "What a mess."

She then turned her head to her, and seemed to let out a sigh of relief, "Good, are you Uzumaki Kushina?"

"Yes," Kushina replied, angry at answering so readily but otherwise unable to do anything else. "Who are you?"

The girl reached up to her hood with delicate pale hands, pulling it away to reveal a head of shoulder length pink hair, pale features and piercing emerald eyes which were almost mesmerizing to look at. The girl barely looked eighteen years old, yet her eyes contained the wisdom of a person twice, maybe three times her age. She smiled serenely as she spoke, "Boy Naruto wasn't kidding, you are quite beautiful."

"Who are you?" she found herself asking again.

"Oh sorry," the girl apologised, "I am a friend, and I'm here to help."

* * *

"Sandaime-sama,"

Sarutobi looked over at the man who spoke. A member of the Hyuga clan if his eyes were any indication, "Yes,"

"I think you should have a look at this," the man replied, veins growing in the skin surrounding his eyes as he activated his Byakugan. "There's someone walking towards the Kyubi."

"Are you serious?"

The old man looked at the mass of wreckage and destruction surrounding the monster. He had ordered his men to fall back. Any who got close to the creature were ripped limb from limb. Only a handful was left of the original strike force, and they were either running or fighting for their lives. He saw one Ninja retreating from the battle, almost dragging a young boy with him.

A single man walked, almost serenely, down the main road towards the beast, the only highway not covered in debris from the surrounding houses and structures. For a second he thought the man was Minato, by his spiky blonde hair. But the clothing he wore, although similar, was completely wrong. The trench coat was not white with red flames around the hem, but a dark crimson with black flames. He did not wear the traditional camouflaged green uniform or the flak jacket of a Konoha Shinobi. In fact his clothing was a little sore on the eye, a bright orange jumpsuit with traces of black and a dark amber flak jacket.

The man stopped within a hundred feet of the beast, not looking harried at all from its incredible spiritual pressure. If anything he seemed to be laughing in delight. He stopped, starred at the beast for a heartbeat and placed his hands together in a sign he was unable to see. But his voice was all too clear, it echoed through the valley, through the forest, through the village itself as if it was meant for his ears.

"You want a fight huh?" the man seemed to ask the creature, "I'll give you a fight!"

In an instant everything between Hiruzen and the Kyubi was covered by a sudden white smoke, completely covering everything between the Sandaime Hokage and the most powerful of the tailed beasts. Then a roar, as powerful and deadly as the Kyubi's could be heard from the wisps of thick mist.

* * *

_**I can't take this anymore. I have to write something about it. I know it's a little late but if you're not following the latest releases of the Naruto manga then don't read it beyond this point, otherwise have fun. If you're wondering check mangastream or mangafox for the newest releases, though I would recommend the stream because it's a good twenty four hours quicker, lol.**_

_**This is an idea which has been plaguing me for a few weeks, and I have had enough and decided to put it onto paper, or cyberspace. It will only be a few chapters long so don't worry so much about my other works of fiction. Some authors need to write something else to get their thing going again, and I'm no different.**_


	2. The Dividing Paths

_**Chapter 2**_

_**The Dividing Paths**_

"Iruka, are you hurt?"

Slowly a young Umino Iruka opened his eyes to see his mothers face, blood dripping from the corners of her mouth as she tried to smile. "Mom,"

He looked over her shoulder, seeing a long slash mark scrapped across her back, slicing through her armoured vest and clothing. He panicked the moment he saw it, and looked around frantically for his father. The man was standing a few meters away from them, taking up the position of rearguard to face the fox.

"Dad," he cried out, "Moms-"

His father interrupted him before he had a chance to finish his sentence," I'll take care of your mother. You get out of here!"

"No way dad," Iruka cried, "I can't leave you and mom alone. I'll protect her!"

"Cut the crap," the middle aged man shot back, "Parent's are supposed to protect their children!"

A great crash brought father and sons attention back to the scene in front of them. The Kyubi was bearing down on them again, eyes glaring balefully at them with so much anger and rage it was almost palpable in the air. Quickly his father grabbed a passing by Chunin, and glared at the younger man.

"Take my son and get out of here!"

Before anyone could move there was a great explosion of white smoke, completely obscuring their vision for as far as the eye could see. For a moment Iruka lost sight of his father, of the Chunin, of the whole strike force. Then he heard a great, rumbling growl, echoing from seemingly every direction.

Still holding onto the limp form of his mother Iruka turned around, eyes wide and uncontrollably shaking. He looked up into a pair of huge eyes, a long black snout barely a couple of feet away from him, sniffing him. It was a fox, another giant fox. At that moment the young boys mind went completely blank, he was unable to say a word, unable to even move a finger. Then his mind rebooted, and he found something different about this animal.

It was easily the same size as the Kyubi. Its black nose almost as big as he was, but Its eyes weren't the same baleful crimson but instead were a vibrant azure, and behind those eyes Iruka saw intelligence. It seemed to recognise him, for the eyes softened, and then it left him altogether and starred at the Kyubi, who had stopped its rampage to address this new threat.

"Iruka," his father was by his side, starring up at the incredible creature in shock and terror, "Oh god, another one."

* * *

Sarutobi Hiuzen gazed at the new creature, his mind a cesspool of panic and disbelief. It was another fox, easily the same size as the Kyubi, but there were several differences in this one's appearance. Instead of blood coloured fur this one's was a pure white, almost the same colour as freshly fallen snow. It looked different from the Kyubi as well, its long snout more streamlined, its body more slender. It looked more like a fox than the wolfish visage of the Kyubi no Kitsune. The only likeness it had was the nine white flowing tails with black tips writhed behind it.

To his knowledge there was only ever one Kyubi no Kitsune. There was never any evidence of a second beast. Yet here it was, another Nine Tailed Fox, exchanging a harsh glare with its more monstrous counterpart. The two great behemoths seemed to completely ignore the small force of Shinobi between them.

"Sandaime-sama," he heard one of his ANBU captains call, and looked around him to see every soul looking at the two encircling beasts with the same panic as he was feeling, "What are we going to do!"

"Two foxes," someone murmured, voice on the edge of all out panic. "Two Nine Tailed Foxes!"

"We couldn't beat one, what chance do we have against two!"

He heard a piercing shriek, and looked up to see the original Kyubi open its mouth, a ball of dark crimson appearing on the tip of its tongue. Before it could finish its strike the white fox moved with incredible quickness, darting forward and colliding with the crimson beast. The clash was so powerful it sent both creatures skidding back, slamming and breaking through the thick defensive wall of the village as if it were paper.

The collision was strong enough to send the Demon Foxes head snapping back as the two fell in a heap of thrashing limbs and flailing tails, crushing a good hundred meters of thick forest as they struggled. The red Kyubi discharged its deadly blast harmlessly into the atmosphere, creating gaping holes in the night skies cloud cover.

"It would appear the snow fox is on our side," Hiruzen muttered to himself.

"So it would seem," his summon, Enma agreed, a single eye appearing on the staff.

"What do you know of this?"

"Nothing," the monkey king replied with a frown, "To my knowledge there has only ever been one Kyubi no Kitsune, I have never heard of a Nine Tailed Snow Fox."

"Sandaime-sama," he heard one of his Jonin call, "What are your orders!"

"It would be foolish to try and get between those two," Hiruzen replied, "And they are out of the village. Our main priority is the wounded and the dying, gather them and take them to the medical centres!"

"Yes, sir,"

With a wave of his hand his Ninja scattered, yet he remained, watching as the two great beasts finally got free of each other. The white fox disengaged and jumped back, leading its crimson counterpart away from the village. The feral Nine Tails followed without a second thought. Hundreds of questions were going through the former Hokage's mind, but he forced them aside. He needed to find his successor.

* * *

It was an impressive show of force. The two Uchiha were in motion within the blink of an eye, opening their encounter with a rapid combination of fists and feet. Their movements were so fast that they were mere blurs to anyone who didn't have the advanced training of an elite Shinobi.

A roundhouse kick was neatly met with a forearm. Madara ducked a counter roundhouse and tried to take his opponents feet from under him with a leg sweep. The younger man jumped high into the air, performing a flawless half somersault to build momentum as he brought his right foot down. Madara jumped back several feet, watching his opponent.

It was with a flash of yellow light that Minato appeared behind him, kunai in his hand as he took a swipe for the back of his enemy's neck. Madara leaned forward, missing the strike, and spun on his heel to come face to face with the infamous yellow flash of Konoha. He made to grab for his wrist, but was a split second too late as Minato vanished in a flash, reappearing several meters away in a defensive stance.

"Chidori Senbon!"

A hail of bluish white shards descended on the former Uchiha patriarch, only for them to pass right through his black robed form and disintegrate as they hit the ground. The man seemed to stare at his attacker before spinning on his heel, taking flight to an overhead ridge. Minato watched as the man tried once again to teleport himself from the fray, only for his blurring form to backfire and revert back on him.

"That's not going to do you much good," the young man said, head bowed and mouth twisted into a savage grin. When he raised his head his eyes became visible. They almost looked like Sharingan eyes, but for a single important difference. The pupil had morphed into a six sided star, combined with a three bladed symbol which reminded Minato of a shuriken, "at least not when against the power of these eyes."

"Hmm, a Mangekyo Sharingan if I'm not mistaken." Madara said the words with a flash of curiosity. "No not a simple Mangekyo. It's an eternal isn't it?"

"Correct, and I have crafted mine to combat your Space-time techniques. With these eyes I can create a field which disrupts all advanced forms of Space-time Ninjutsu. With time I was able to control it to the point where I can disrupt only those I want too." The young man met eyes with his opponent, completely ignoring Minato as his eyes hardened to something akin to diamonds.

"I see, that will be…agitating." Madara replied with a shake of his head. In a flash of movement a long chain appeared in his hands, barbed by small blades designed to rip an opponent limb from limb.

The teen didn't seem the least bit perturbed by this weapon. Instead he reached to the small of his back. Where a sword was sheathed in a simple black scabbard, and slowly drew it. Minato heard the continuous low scrape of steel as the blade was unsheathed, and watched as the younger Uchiha spread his legs and placed his sword over his head in a two handed grip. He was smirking when he growled at him, "Come on then!"

In a blur the two combatants went at each other. The younger slowly bringing his sword down to his side in preparation for a diagonal swing. The elder flew forward. His chain flailed behind him, flashing white in the suddenly dense moonlight. The two met in the middle of the field. The sword slashed expertly through Madara's ribcage, only for the blade to move straight through without doing the slightest damage.

The chain followed as if it had a life of its own, looping around the young Uchiha's arms and tightening. He gasped, dropping his sword from the pressure. Then Madara was on him. The two were face to face, and Minato knew exactly what was coming. Madara's form began to spin. His body blurring as he activating that Jutsu he had tried to snag Minato with on the Hokage Mountain.

The two pairs of morphed Sharingan met, eye to eye, glare to glare. Then Madara's body began to reverse, morphing back to its regular visage. Minato heard a gasp before the elder Uchiha disengaged and jumped back, skidding to a halt halfway across the wrecked clearing.

"What was that?" the elder Uchiha asked, voice a low menacing growl.

"I told you those Space-time Jutsu's wouldn't work on me," the boy replied with a dry confidence. "That goes for that Sharingan technique of yours as well. It works by direct physical contact, pulling your opponent with you into another dimension. A dimension no one can escape without your consent. Basically it's you ripping open a portal from the material world to the immaterial right?"

Madara's only reply was a low, predatory growl of anger. This kid had hit the mark.

"So I spent time developing a technique. It works in a similar way to breaking a Genjutsu, only it requires a fully activated and perfect Eternal Mangekyo to work in synchrony with." The boy took a confident step forward, "I call it Izanami."

"Impressive."

His mouth twisted into a feral grin, "You haven't seen everything yet, forefather."

Minato was a master of reading people. With a simple few minutes of exchanging fists and Jutsu he was capable of committing what he had seen to memory. By the end of the second exchange he had a countermeasure formed and ready to implement. It was this talent to read peoples movements that allowed him to survive for as long as he had. To survive the trials of the last world war and become the leader of his village.

While fighting against this man, whom he suspected was Uchiha Madara. He was able to make several well informed assumptions about him and his ability. Madara was an advanced user of Space-Time Ninjutsu. To the point where he could phase in and out of reality, becoming intangible to the point where enemy attacks would go straight through him and cause next to no damage.

There was a weakness to his techniques. After he used a high ranking Ninjutsu he became tangible for a short period of time, and during that short period an opponent could attack him and cause some damage. Minato had already done it with a Rasengan.

This boy, who had entered the battle and cut off Madara's retreat, had seemingly nullified his main trump card. He was definitely an Uchiha, but Minato didn't recognise him. He had within his arsenal the Mangekyo Sharingan, but the Yondaime had always thought that stage was a mere myth; A bedtime story to scare children.

"Are you ready," the boy asked, jumping back with chakra enhanced momentum to land right beside him.

"For what?" Minato asked. He eyed this kid one moment, then the motionless Uchiha patriarch the next. He didn't trust this kid, for no other reason than help at the last moment very rarely happened in his book unless the supposed help had an agenda of their own.

"He's about to get serious."

"No Space-time techniques huh?" he asked, eyeing both the Yondaime Hokage and his fellow Mangekyo wielding Uchiha. "Then I suppose I'm really going to have to work."

He reached up with his right hand, and ripped the orange mask from his face, absently dropping it on the floor. He was nothing like the man Minato had seen in history books. His jet black hair was cut short. A face lined with stress lines and old scars from a lifetime of war and death. His eyes were closed for a handful of moments. They snapped open and a voice, laced with venom and concentration reached his hearing.

"Mangekyo Sharingan," he roared, "Amaterasu!"

* * *

Kushina lay on her back in the centre of the small hut, her entire body encompassed by a soft green light as the medical Ninja continued her work. The Uzumaki lay in the centre of a circle of black runes. Runes she knew were an advanced medical form of Fuinjutsu, an incredibly complex set of scripture which made up a powerful life support seal.

The seals were made up of two main circles, one around her and another, larger one encompassing both her and her new medic. The girl had quickly drawn up the Fuinjutsu seals, created three Kage Bunshin copies of herself and took up positions, sitting cross-legged in small triangles, each representing the directions of north, south, east and west. Their eyes were all closed, hands coming together to make the seal for the ram as they concentrated.

The teenager, who had introduced herself as Haruno Sakura, was a bit of an enigma to the fiery haired Uzumaki. She definitely had the demeanour of a medic who had seen combat, who had lost friends. She had extensive knowledge of Iryōjutsu, and plenty of experience in physically practising it. Whoever her teacher was, she was definitely trained by the best, and idly Kushina wondered if she were a secret apprentice to Senju Tsunade.

The soft wailing caught her attention, and she looked over worriedly to the little bundle nestled in the bed. Her motherly instincts screamed at her to go to him, to hug him tightly, never let him go, and whisper that it was going to be alright.

The real Sakura opened her right eye, and looked over to the bed, a small smile spreading across her face. "My, my," she whispered softly, before releasing her control of the seal for a moment and bringing her middle and index fingers together in a simple hand sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Another perfectly solid clone puffed into existence, and went to the bed without a word. She picked up the crying bundle and walked over to a rocking chair, sitting down with a creek. "Hush, little one. It's going to be okay, your mothers going to be just fine."

Satisfied the original fell back into the medical stance, hands once again making the sign of the ram as she concentrated her chakra into the seals. She was relieved Naruto had taught her that technique, although with her chakra reserves she could only make five before she began to feel the strain. Her reserves were nowhere near as good as Naruto and Sasuke's.

Losing the Kyubi had severely weakened Naruto's mother. Her chakra reserves were nearing nil, and her body had been put through very real trauma when the creature was extracted. So much so that it was slowly shutting down. If it was a normal medic-nin tending to her then her odds would have been small. Luckily she wasn't an average medic, so the odds had improved to around fifty-fifty. Sakura needed to pump her own chakra slowly through Kushina's chakra network, massaging the strings around her main organs and slowly reopen the tenketsu points which had been forcefully closed.

It was a long hard process. But Sakura had the confidence in herself that she believed she could do this. She owed it to her best friend. He didn't deserve any of what happened to him. If he had his mother and father then his life would have been so much better, and if the village had the Yondaime Hokage then maybe things would have worked out alright.

Unconsciously Sakura opened her eyes again to look at the woman who was the mother to the world's Number one hyperactive, knuckleheaded, unpredictable Ninja. She was a beautiful woman, even in her sickly state. Long luxurious locks of crimson hair, soft pale skin, and teal eyes which she guessed were normally full of life, now tired and dull. The woman's eyes were on her clone, sitting in the rocking chair with little baby Naruto in her lap, singing an old Fire Country lullaby Sakura remembered from childhood.

At that moment teal eyes met emerald, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sakura replied, smiling a melancholic smile, "Just lost in thought."

* * *

Black fire seemed to explode from the ledge, spreading through the clearing with such speed that it was frightening. What was more frightening was the fact that these flames were spreading across ground which held nothing even remotely flammable. There were no shrubs or plants. The whole clearing had been cleared out thanks to the monumental battle which was taking place.

Thinking quickly the Yondaime grabbed his sudden ally and activated his Hiraishin no Jutsu, teleporting the two of them away in a flash of yellow light. They reappeared on the high branch of one of the surrounding oak trees, looking down at the blanket of black flames.

He looked over at the Uchiha, and saw with a bit of amusement that he was staggering in place, almost falling off the branch if he hadn't have grabbed his arm to keep him steady. Minato didn't blame him. The first time someone went through the Hiraishin they usually went through a bout of motion sickness.

"You got a name?" he asked, eyes not leaving the black flames.

The young man looked at him for a moment, before answering, "Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke."

Minato thought for a moment, but the only Uchiha Sasuke he could think of was barely a couple of months old, the second son of the Uchiha head family. He knew because Kushina was good friends with Fugaku's wife, Mikoto. He would play along with the name for now.

"Well Sasuke here's the plan. There's a weakness in his Space-time Ninjutsu, after he uses it he becomes solid for a few seconds. One of us has to play the bait, while the other strikes him after he uses the technique."

Sasuke looked at the Yondaime Hokage closely, generally impressed by what he heard. Namikaze Minato had only fought against the Uchiha forefather for a couple of minutes before his arrival, and he had already realised the weakness in his enemies Jutsu. The plan was solid. The only problem was getting to him now that he had unleashed his more powerful Sharingan techniques.

"He will only be able to use Amaterasu for a few more minutes," Sasuke explained. "Using Mangekyo techniques has a considerable tax on chakra reserves. I'm guessing the only reason he's using it is because he's running out of options."

"So do you have a plan?"

"Yes, but it will take precise timing." Sasuke said, turning to look into almost unnaturally familiar azure eyes, "And it will take a level of risk for the both of us."

Minato thought of it for a moment. The life of a frontline Shinobi was always filled with risks. Just because he hadn't been on the frontline in the last two years didn't mean that he had forgotten the rules of the battlefield. But he guessed this plan always needed a level of trust that they didn't have, mainly because he had never fought with this man side by side. But this wasn't just about him. It was about his wife, his newborn son, his village and the people in it. His decision was made.

"What's your plan?"

* * *

He looked across the expansive landscape around him, noticing that there wasn't a single settlement in immediate sight. This was as good a place to fight as anywhere else. He idly remembered this was roughly the same place where he had fought Gaara in his fully transformed Ichibi no Shukaku. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

With a deep breath Uzumaki Naruto dug his paws into the ground, uprooting half a kilometre of trees as he skidded to a stop and turned around. The Kyubi was coming right at him, a truly terrifying sight which made him feel a quake of fear before it was violently shut down. He inhaled deeply and exhaled a stream of condensed white flames which incinerated the stretch of forest between him and his enemy.

The Kyubi snarled and digging its claws into the ground changed its direction, jumping to the side with just enough distance to get out of his attacks range. When he came to a stop the Demon Fox reeled back its huge head, opened its gigantic maw and inhaled a mass of air. A ball of pure blackish red chakra appeared on the tip of its tongue.

He exhaled, firing a beam of concentrated chakra right at him. It was full of hatred, malice and the will to kill. Naruto was just able to create a ball of his own chakra, the sphere of condensed energy swirling into existence just outside of his own mouth. He fired. The resulting explosion was apocalyptic. Whole swaths of trees were felled, leaving nothing but an open sight of pure destruction for miles in every direction.

Naruto growled as he came too. He had been just a few dozen meters away from the centre of the explosion. His own ball of energy had shielding him from the worst of the impact, but the residual shockwave was enough to send him flying back a quarter of a kilometre, landing in a heap and flattening another swath of trees and vegetation. He shook himself off and stood, forcing aside the waves of nausea as he did.

He couldn't have possibly prepared himself for facing his prisoner in person. He knew for a fact that he only contained half of the Kyubi's chakra, the yin half. That meant that he was only half as strong as his opponent. At first the blonde had thought nothing of it. He had made a name for himself by defeating enemies who were more powerful than him on paper. Orochimaru, Akatsuki, Pein, Madara, the list went on. But nothing could have prepared him for the shear, crushing aura which the greatest of the nine held.

Even their sizes were different, a testament to the supreme power of the original Kyubi no Kitsune. Naruto's own fox form, while impressive, only reached up to the creature's neck. He was a full head shorter than the Kyubi no Kitsune. He had thought his smaller body would have given him an increase in speed and precision, and it did. But the raw power of the animal was something he could not defeat on just speed alone.

He wasn't about to give in though.

It was just his nature to never surrender.

Never bow down to adversity.

His enemy was stronger than him? Well big deal.

Speed was the key.

He was faster than this monster.

He was smarter than this monster.

He would think up of something to use against him.

He will defeat him.

He needed to defeat him.

If he lost here everything they went through would be for nothing.

NOTHING!

He reared back his head and roared a demonic war cry which could be heard all the way to Kumogakure. The very trees bent under the strain of the wind. The very ground shook. Bending his legs he took off right at the huge form of the Kyubi no Kitsune. Claws extended and snout peeled back to show his rows of white needle sharp teeth.

He was going to win!

He needed to WIN!

* * *

It was a matter of timing.

Everything had to be perfect.

Sasuke counted down the seconds. He had trained extensively in mock battles against Madara when he was a member of Akatsuki. He knew exactly how long he could hold the Amaterasu. He looked to Minato, saw him nod, and turned back to look at the very centre of the blanket of black flames. He was aware that those same flames were slowly etching their way up the trunks of the trees, destroying everything in their path.

But the hundred year old oak, grown by the Shodaime Hokage himself was strong and specially created by a man who knew the strengths and weaknesses of the Mangekyo Sharingan. No one knew Madara Uchiha better than Hirashima Senju, and even after death it seemed that he was still undermining the ancient former head of the Uchiha clan.

Three

Two

One

Now!

He jumped with a chakra propelled leap over the flames. Watching as they slowly began to recede, beginning at the exact spot where Madara stood and slowly spreading out to the whole. It seemed that a decade and a half had done little to weaken the former patriarchs fighting ability.

Sasuke drew Kusanagi with samurai quickness and waited for a few heartbeats. He heard a swish which he knew to be a three pronged kunai, and in the blink of an eye Minato was right beside him. The Yondaime Hokage gripped Sasuke's right arm with both hands and spun. Momentum gathered after two quick spins he released, allowing the young Uchiha to dart down towards the exact spot where Uchiha Madara stood.

His own silhouette overshadowed the Uchiha patriarch.

Madara looked up, eyes wide in surprise.

Sasuke grinned and swung Kusanagi in a diagonal arc.

Blood spattered across the ridge.

* * *

_**Lol I can so imagine the Evangelion album at work during these scenes, particularly Las Betes, the fight music. But then again that's just me. Sorry for the wait folks. My sister got me addicted to Red vs. Blue, plus I've been watching the new Evangelion movie (Legendary!), and I've been addicted to playing the multiplayer of Modern Warfare II…I know this makes me look like a nerd but…who am I kidding… it does make me look like a nerd.**_

_**Anyway for those of you who are also waiting for the Abyssal One of the Red Clouds never fear for I have started up on the next chapter again. I completely scrapped the original idea, too much work and the whole thing just didn't feel right by me. I kind of had a little writers block. My muse left me, the bastard…**_


	3. No Going Back

_**Chapter 3**_

**_No Going Back_**

Blood spattered across the ridge.

Two sets of eyes glared into each other, tomoe spinning clockwise across crimson sclera before morphing back to their Mangekyo forms. A six pointed star with three tipped shuriken stared into three meteor like shapes forming into a circle, three black bars connecting the second circle to the edges of the visible eye.

The silence seemed eternal, two pairs of eyes unblinking. Then Sasuke coughed up blood, looking down at the blade. At the last possible moment Madara had used the very last of his chakra reserves, fading through the younger Uchiha's sword stroke, drawing a knife from his belt and with a spin of the heel thrust it into his chest.

The elder looked into the young man's eyes, a twisted smile curving up his lips. "You almost had me kid."

* * *

"_Are we willing to do this?"_

_The three friends sat on the white rocks overlooking the ocean. The sun was rising in the distance, bathing the crystal blue ocean and cloudless sky in reds, oranges and yellows. In the distance they could hear the calls of seagulls as they took to the skies. The lapping of the water as it made contact with the beach of white sand in front of them. _

_Naruto sat in the centre of their little formation, paintbrush in hand, drawing an unimaginable series of seals onto the white rocks. It was a massive seal, three circles covered in a series of ancient runes and glyphs which made his eyes hurt to look at. Where the blonde learned this technique he wasn't sure, but he knew one thing about this._

_It was useless without one important piece, and that piece was the object he held in his hand. It was a strange machination. A rock carving said to be imbued with the power of the Sage of the Six Paths himself. Once Naruto was finished with his work the carving had to be placed in the empty central circle._

_He looked across at the blonde, continuing at his work, black ink deftly drawn onto the surface. He was like an artist, and the huge flat rock was his canvass. "Hell, there's no guarantee that we will succeed."_

_Sasuke laid himself back, elbows propping himself up as he glanced at the cloudless sky. A cool breeze soothed his skin, the smell of salt and sand refreshing to his senses. "Since when have we backed off because of the risk?"_

_Looking back Sasuke was amazed how he had come to be here. On this beach in Nami no Kuni with his two former teammates. Maybe it was when the veil had been lifted from his eyes, rather forcibly. It was when Madara had tried to hand him over to Kabuto that he went rogue, and it was after a thorough beating at the hands of Naruto that he had agreed to help them take his crazed forefather down. Finding his forefather's laboratory full of his family's Sharingan eyes helped him make the decision all the more faster._

_Naruto made a hum of acknowledgement, hand moving as if it had a life of its own. Since his victory over the Kyubi and his talk with his mother he had thrown himself headlong into the techniques and abilities of his clan. He had since become a master of seals to the point where he could rival his own recently deceased sensei. _

_He had gained so many titles during the war. _

_The Unpredictable;_

_The Second Toad Sage;_

_The Crimson Streak;_

_The Rokudaime Hokage;_

_And they had won. They had won, and yet it seemed like such a hollow victory. The war between the Shinobi Alliance and the Akatsuki backed Confederation of Sovereign Nations had been long and bloody. When it ended the Confederation was destroyed, and Akatsuki was annihilated. But the Five Great Villages and their Samurai allies had been so badly affected. Iwagakure and Sunagakure had been destroyed, Kumogakure and Kirigakure had lost half of their Shinobi forces, and Konoha, their Konoha was no more than a ruin._

_They were the last survivors of the Konoha Twelve. The other nine, including their senseis, their families and their Kage had been completely wiped out. Konoha's Shinobi forces were down to a tenth of what they had been at the wars beginning. So many friends, senseis and family had been lost that the victory wasn't worth it._

_A Pyrrhic victory, yes that was what they called it;_

_That was when this idea. This stupid, foolhardy, one in a million chance of working idea had etched itself into their foolish heads. "This is a one way trip." He was barely aware of Naruto's voice as he finished his last seal and stood, inspecting his work. "There will be no going back."_

_Sakura looked up from her place, lying on the rock, starring at the new horizon. It was almost as if she was trying to burn it into her memory. The last horizon of their time they would ever see. "We knew that the moment we came up with it."_

_The girl propped herself on her elbows, pushing herself to her feet and absently brushing the dust off her black slacks. By god how much she had changed. That irritating fan girl had been replaced by a young Kunoichi whose beauty was only usurped by the many ways she could kill and get away with it. She had gone from the sixteen year old child to a master of medical Jutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu. If she were cursed with the Sharingan then her Genjutsu would be the best in the world._

_Sasuke looked at her, then to Naruto, and then he began to think. They were each doing this for essentially the same reason. Naruto was in it to save his mother and father, the legendary Yellow Flash and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanera, Sasuke was in it to kill Madara, avenge his family and save them at the same time. Sakura was in it for both Naruto's parents and the Uchiha._

_He had a feeling that if Minato remained alive, then the Uchiha would not have been placed under suspicion. They would not have been relocated, put under constant surveillance and slowly usurped of their own responsibilities. His clan was a clan of proud Shinobi, and they had taken great pride in the Police force they commanded. To have their responsibilities taken away, to be relocated, cut off from the village and surveyed like a pack of feral wolves. _

_It had been a great stain on their honour, and eventually, after several years of such forced humiliation his clan decided to rebel. After thinking it over he saw that the clan had been at fault almost as much as the village. They had isolated themselves from Konoha, whether in protest or otherwise. He planned to stop this before it even happened._

"_Well, shall we go?"_

_Naruto and Sasuke took a deep breath in unison, nodding in agreement._

_

* * *

_

Hands shot up, gripping onto the forearm with enough force to leave bruising on the skin. Madara looked down; flinching at the vicelike grip. The blood was flowing from his stab wound, staining his white opened shirt vermillion. Madara looked into the younger mans eyes. The Mangekyo Sharingan was still fully formed, and starring at him with all the pity of a predator that had his teeth dug into his prey's neck.

"Izanami,"

The former patriarch's eyes widened in understanding, and then there was a hiss of electricity as he felt the sword pierce his back. The blade slid through his skin, cleanly cutting his spinal cord in half before cleaving through his heart. The blade exited through his chest, sending a spray of blood that soaked the young man's front.

Madara's eyes flared, before his right hand flashed forward, grabbing onto his opponents neck, "Who are… you!"

His enemy smiled, a ghastly sight considering the blood which flowed from the corners of his lips, "Uchiha… Sasuke."

The old man coughed up blood, allowing the thin trails of crimson to flow from the corners of his mouth. "Damn you boy. If I'm going to die here, then I'm taking you with me!"

He flashed through a single hand sign, pressing his now glowing palm of chakra against his forehead. Black runes spread along the skin like the strokes of a tapestry depicting death and destruction to all who looked upon it. Sasuke knew it. An advanced suicide Fuinjutsu, designed to kill not just the user but anyone within a select area.

He watched as a fist connected squarely with Madara's jaw, sending him careening to the side, and then Minato was there. The Yondaime grabbed Sasuke's shoulders, and the two of them vanished in a flash of light. Madara looked at the place where his two enemies once stood, and roared in true anger and rage.

"Curse you. Curse you Namikaze Minato, curse you Uchiha Sasuke!" The patriarch's body shone a red so dark it almost seemed black, and then he exploded in a shower of blood, shattered bone and cartilage. The ruined remains of the battlefield was encompassed by a dome of fire nearly twenty meters in diameter, leaving nothing more than a large crater twenty meters across and ten deep.

Minato flashed into existence within the very cabin where he had left his wife, carrying his ally's dead weight in his arms. Slowly he set the young man down, and began to pull away the blood soaked shirt to get a better look at the wound. He looked at the injury, and shook his head. The blade had gone in through his chest and punctured his heart. The Yondaime was amazed that the boy was still alive.

"Sasuke!"

He looked up, surprised, to see a young woman with shoulder length pink hair push him aside. She pressed her hands against the chest wound, palms glowing with the eerie green of healing chakra as she set to work. Minato's head snapped to the side, frantically searching for Kushina, for his son.

He saw her still form on the bed, and rushed to her side. Kushina still looked horribly pale, but her chest was rising and falling as it took in and exhaled gulps of air. He gently placed a hand against her chest, activating one of a few healing Jutsu he knew. Her breathing was steady, pulse was weak but steady. She was stable. He breathed a sigh of relief, before looking over to his son. The baby boy was fast asleep in his cot, seemingly unaware of the goings on in the world.

"Hang in there," he heard the pink haired girl's voice, urgent and barely calm. "Don't you dare die on me Sasuke, do you hear me!"

Minato was by her side, "What can I do?"

She looked up at him, and saw the determined glint in his eyes. "I need you too-"

"Sakura," The heads of both Minato and Sakura looked down to see Sasuke crack open his eyes. He looked at both of them with a slow, weak turn of his head. "Did I… get him?"

Minato forced himself to smile softly, "Yeah kid, you got him."

Sasuke nodded, seemingly with great effort, before he replied. His voice seemed so small, so weak that it was barely a croak. "Good."

"Hang on Sasuke," the girl said with the softness of a mother, "We'll have you up and about in no time."

The Uchiha looked into her eyes; his own dark orbs, now as dull as twin bottomless pools, seemed to soften, "No Sakura, not this time."

The girl shook her head, unshed tears in her emerald eyes. "No, don't say that. We just found you again. We can't lose you!"

"It's my heart… Sakura," Sasuke whispered, his voice a croak, "I'm no…expert but that's…one injury… I won't survive."

He looked to Minato, and with a flash of last minute strength gripped onto the Yondaime's forearm, making him pay the Uchiha his undivided attention. "The Uchiha clan had nothing… to do with this. Please don't blame them… for the actions of that…bastard. Promise me."

Minato's eyes widened slightly, before they softened. He smiled as he gripped the kid's hand. "I promise."

Sasuke smiled weakly, his eyes closing. "Good."

Sakura finally gave up, the glow of light green in her hands vanishing. The damage to his heart was too extensive, too severe. Yet she kept them on the wound, soaking them in blood as she still unconsciously tried to stop the blood flow. Her entire form convulsed with a mighty sob. She closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth to try and get herself under control. Sakura almost jumped when she felt a hand caress her cheek, and opened her eyes to see Sasuke, smiling at her.

"We really did it… didn't we?"

She offered him a brave smile, even though tears stained her cheeks, and placed her own hand over his. "Yeah, we did."

"Sakura," she looked into his eyes, "I'm sorry, for everything. Do you… forgive me?"

"Moron." She smiled weakly, gripping his outstretched hand in hers, "We forgave you a long time ago."

"That's good." His eyes were now looking glassily up at the ceiling. "I'm sleepy."

She tried to wipe away her tears. "Then sleep, Sasuke. I'll wake you up in the morning, okay?"

"Yea," he replied, his voice getting softer and weaker. "That…would…be….great."

And with one last exhale he was gone.

Sakura released the sob she had been holding, and reaching out closed her friends eyes with shaking fingers. Another sob and she looked at her hands, stained crimson with the blood of her childhood crush. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned watery eyes to the man who looked so much like Naruto, looking into those azure orbs, so filled with sorrow and understanding. "I'm sorry."

She knew, he knew, Naruto knew. The chances of survival were nil. It didn't mean that it hurt any less to see another one of your friends die. She nodded, thanking him with a weak smile before she dried her eyes and rose to her feet. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. But there is still a fight to win, and plenty of time to grieve later."

As if to accent her statement a terrifying screech shook the very foundations of the cabin. In his crib the baby version of Naruto began to wail, and Kushina awoke in her bed and looked at the scene with tired eyes. Sakura looked out the open door, giving voice to her nagging worry. "He won't be able to hold it off for much longer."

"Who," Minato asked, but was ignored as the pink haired Kunoichi gritted her teeth.

"I can take him alone he said. He won't be able to stand before my incredible shining awesomeness he said. Why the hell did I believe you, Naruto you blonde idiot!"

Minato flinched at the ferocity in her words. Then they hit him like a full punch to the jaw, "Naruto?"

He noticed Sakura twitch, and took a few steps forward. He gripped her by the shoulder tightly, and made her turn around to face him. "What do you mean Naruto?"

Sakura sucked in a breath, blew it out, and groaned. "He is going to kill me for this."

"Kill you for what?" Kushina asked, rising to her feet, a little unsteady. Minato went to her, placed his hands on her to steady her. Sakura looked at the couple, seeing the worry in both of their eyes. They were so in love. It was so obvious. It seemed stupid and corny but she could feel it in the very air.

She scratched the back of her head, "Where should I begin?"

"Try the beginning," Kushina offered with a weak smile.

"Right, the beginning," Sakura sucked in a shaky breath, "Well might as well not beat around the bush. We're time travellers from the future. I'm Haruno Sakura." She looked at the still body of one of her best friends. "His name was Uchiha Sasuke, and our leader is… Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

She nodded, and offered them a sad smile, "Your son."

* * *

He hit the ground hard, levelling at least another few acres of trees before coming to a complete stop. He knew immediately that that last hit had broken a few of his ribs and his left arm. Slowly Naruto rose to his feet, knowing that he couldn't hold out against this beast for much longer. His once pure white fur was stained ruby red with his own blood from slash, bite and gash marks across his frame.

He took solace in the appearance of the Kyubi no Kitsune. The Demon Fox was limping from the ripping bite mark he had delivered to his right hind leg, and several gashes and bites dotted his frame, including the bite mark across his sinewy neck. It was hard to make out the injuries, considering his fur was of similar colour to his blood.

Slowly Naruto rose to his feet, and nearly fell when a searing pain assaulted his broken forelimb. Blood oozed from a slash mark over his left eye, partially blinding him on that side. The Kyubi may have been badly injured, but that didn't stop it from lunging at him. The two barrelled to the ground in a mass of flailing tails and clawing limbs. Naruto was able to cut a slash mark over his adversary's right eye, sending a splatter of blood to the surrounding treetops.

Then the Kyubi darted in with its mouth, and locked it around his neck, biting into his fur covered flesh with deadly fangs. Naruto flailed all the harder, sending three of his tails up to lash at the foxes flanks. The beast wailed as Naruto clawed across its chest with his right claw, and finally with a great twist of his head released him. The white Kitsune went barrelling into the forest, clearing another swath of trees as he slid across the ground.

He tried to stand again, but was stopped when the Kyubi reached him once again. It placed one claw on his head, and another on his bad shoulder, holding him down. Naruto's tails flailed uncontrollably. The Kyubi leaned down; mouth barely a meter from his now unguarded neck. One last bite from those fangs and he would be finished.

Suddenly the foxes head darted up and to the right, baleful eyes glaring at something in the distance. Naruto used that to his advantage. He brought his one last usable claw and two hind legs up and pushed at the creature with all the strength he could muster. The fox, surprised, went barrelling back, landing hard on its side and snarling in discomfort.

Then there was a flash of lightning. Naruto looked at the source, and his eyes widened in shock. There, standing before the fox was a small group of silhouettes. The very man he had admired for all of his life was among them. His spiked blonde hair, his clothes, and his stance, it was his father. There was a small bundle in his arms. Beside him stood the unmistakable form of his mother, hanging onto him, and Sakura standing protectively over her. Minato looked up at him, and Naruto could see the sad smile on the man's face. Then he reached out with his right hand, and both he and the Kyubi vanished in a great flash of energy which blinded him for a second.

Naruto cursed, and immediately reached out with all of his senses. Hearing, smell, taste, touch and sight, looking for that familiar aura that the Kyubi no Kitsune would project. After a moment his eyes snapped open. He was a couple of kilometres from his present position. If he hurried he would be able to catch him before his father did anything stupid.

In truth Naruto had seen this one coming. His father was never the kind of man who would throw off his responsibilities on others. To him the Kyubi attacked the village on his watch, and he felt duty bound as Hokage to meet this threat head on. It was admirable, and he saw where he got that particular trait from, didn't make the supposed genius any less stupid though.

Naruto took a deep breath, and dispelled his Kitsune form in a huge explosion of white smoke. He looked down at his human form, and groaned. He was a complete mess. His left arm hung uselessly at his side. Slash and bite marks, some oozing blood which stained his clothes covered his form. He made the half seal of the ram with his good hand, and concentrated. He fell into that peaceful mindset, activating his Sage chakra. He may have used up a majority of his tenants, but his own reserves were still strong.

Naruto knew where the changes showed. Reddish orange pigment coloured his eyelids, and when he opened his eyes they had morphed from their usual azure to golden yellow, his pupils becoming a bar instead of an orb. The world was such a bright and lively place when seen through these eyes. Already he could feel the essence of life fill his wounds, closing his injuries and knitting together his broken bones. He could feel his left arm again, and it hurt like hell.

He submerged himself into the natural chakra which infused the earth, the plants, the animals, the people, the trees, the oceans, the mountains, the air, the entire world. The Kyubi stood out as a mass of writhing crimson, completely unnatural to the surrounding world of blues and greens. He took a deep breath, and vanished in a flash of light.

* * *

It was impossible. It had to be impossible. There was no other conceivable way that what he had heard was the truth. His son and his two teammates travelled back in time to stop Madara and the Kyubi attack. It was impossible, yet he believed her. There was no lie in Haruno Sakura's eyes. There was no hesitation in her words or any negative flare from her chakra network.

He needed to go. He needed to see his son. Kushina had demanded he take her along, but he refused. She had just survived a seemingly impossible encounter. She may have been stable, but any exertion on her part could unravel everything Haruno-san had achieved. Minato couldn't take that, so he vanished in a flash, leaving his weakened wife in the care of his son's future friend.

Minato knew exactly where the battle was, and he flashed into existence just in time to see a giant bulk block out his view of vision. He flashed again, years of experience and training taking hold and reappeared in a clearing at the other side of the valley. What his eyes witnessed in that moment would forever be carved into his memory. Two giant nine tailed Foxes locked in a battle for dominance.

Sakura had told him that the smaller one, the one with fur as white as snow, was the Kitsune form of his son. Naruto, his Naruto, was on the ground, blood pouring from several gashes and bites, staining his white fur vermillion. The nine white tails with black tips flailed wildly as he struggled under the larger, fiercer Kyubi no Kitsune's grasp.

He was losing. The Kyubi had definitely sustained considerable injuries from his son, blood flowing just as freely from several gashes along its flanks. But it was a lost cause. His son was going to lose. Minato acted on instinct, and flared his chakra. That one simple action caught the larger Kitsune' attention and it reeled its giant head round in his direction. His son acted on the opportunity, and lashed out with his one good arm and both legs, sending the enemy barrelling to the ground.

"That's my boy," Minato breathed out the words. "I'm sorry son, but it looks like you won't be able to save me this time."

Minato knew exactly what he needed to do. He had planned this as a contingency in case he was unable to subdue the Kyubi on his own. He had thought up of this disastrous, sloppy plan when he and Sasuke had battled Madara in that ravine. He took in a shaky breath. "I'm sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry."

First he threw a handful of his infamous tri bladed kunai with a chakra propelled throw, watching as they sailed through the sky and hit the ground surrounding the Kyubi with perfect aim. Minato reactivated his _Hiraishin_ and reappeared back in the cabin, standing over the small crib which held his newborn son. With careful hands he bent over, placed his hands around the small bundle and gently lifted him. He looked over to Kushina and Sakura, who were looking back at him in surprise and sudden trepidation.

Minato smiled a sad smile. "It doesn't look like our son was able to completely defeat the Kyubi. I'm going to need your help."

Kushina nodded as she walked over to stand by his side. Naruto was her baby boy, whether he was the bundle in her husband's arms, or a grown young man who had tried with all his might to save them. He smiled gratefully to her, and was about to activate the Jutsu, but a hand gripping his other shoulder stopped him. It was Sakura, the young medic glared at him. "I can't talk you out of this can I?"

"Sorry," Minato replied.

"You're as bad as he is. I see now where he gets that determination to save the world." The pink haired Kunoichi let out a breath, "Though he always said he got that supreme stubbornness from his mom."

Minato saw Kushina's cheeks darken ever so slightly at the statement. "You seem to be letting us go to easily. Wasn't it your mission to make sure we stayed put?"

"I'm no match for the legendary Yellow Flash, so I know that if I challenged you I'd be beaten down pretty quick." Sakura shrugged, and then smiled wickedly. "Besides, if I know Naruto he's going to stage a last second appearance, and I've always wanted to see the legendary Crimson Streak knock out the equally legendary Yellow Flash."

"You have a lot of faith in him," Minato said with a soft smile.

"Of course I do," Sakura tried to sound indignant, and he marvelled at the girl's inner strength. What was more he noticed the pride in her next statement. "He's the Rokudaime Hokage after all."

"Rokudaime, huh?"

Minato grinned at the declaration, besides the current situation, before vanishing in another flash. He had used the _Flying Thunder God Technique_ a lot today. He was beginning to feel the strain on his body, but he persevered for one last time. He appeared right where he wanted too, and looked up at the towering silhouette of the Kyubi no Kitsune. He then looked back to see his son rise haggardly to his feet. He saw intelligence in those azure blue orbs, and the sudden widening as they settled on him and those around him.

Minato offered his son a small, sad smile before raising his hand and mentally muttering the name of his next Jutsu. A special transportation technique, the same as the one he used to deflect the Kyubi's chakra blast on the Hokage Mountain, only much bigger. Both he and the Kyubi flashed from the battlefield, reappearing on a stretch of flat land.

He looked up as the monster raised its head over the treetops, and knew that it would spot them any second. He was tired, weak, near the end of his chakra capacity, "Gotta set up a barrier."

Kushina was barely able to lift her head, "My chakra's almost drained."

Before Minato knew it he felt a sudden flare of chakra, and looked on in alarm as chains of barbed silver exploded past him, wrapping around the Kyubi's huge frame before imbedding themselves into the ground via a group of anchor like blades. He looked over in shock to see Kushina fallen to her knees, a mass of chains seemingly melding from the skin of her back. Sakura looked at the spectacle, speechless at what she saw.

Almost on cue the baby awoke from its slumber, and as if sensing its mothers pain began to wail as much as its little lungs would allow, which wasn't a lot. Kushina looked up with a weak smile at the crying infant, "Sorry Naruto. I didn't mean to… wake you."

Minato looked on, speechless. Sure he knew Kushina would help him in containing the fox, but he wasn't prepared for her to do something like this. "Kushina…"

She began to speak before he could continue, looking up at him with a brave smile. "I'll drag the Kyubi back… and die with it inside me… that'll… prevent it from coming back… for a while… it's the only way to save you all… with the little chakra I have left." She looked up into her lover's pained eyes, and smiled, forcing her eyes closed so she wouldn't have to witness his heartache, "Minato, thank you… for everything."

Sakura found herself standing as still as a statue, before she began to internally curse herself with a mass of words which would have made a sailor blush. Naruto had put her in charge of making sure his parents were safe, and she had failed all because of the faith she had in him.

Minato fell to his knees, looking at Kushina with watery eyes. No one in the history of the Elemental Nations would have thought that they would be able to see the Yondaime cry. "Kushina, you… you made me your husband, you made me the Yondaime Hokage, you made me this boy's father, and I-"

"Minato," her voice was so soft, so weak, "Don't look so sad… I-I'm happy… happy that you loved me." She looked down at her little baby boy, still crying. "Happy that's its our son's birthday… Like… if I try to imagine the three of us… living together…I can't think of anything beyond… 'I'd be so happy'."

Minato couldn't contain himself any longer. He allowed his tears to flow freely down his cheeks. Kushina looked at him, looked at the two of them, and smiled. "If I had any regrets... It would be that I won't see Naruto grow up."

Before she could say another word, the chains on her back, which held the Kyubi at bay, shattered into hundreds of pieces. Each shard of liquid silver vanishing the moment they hit the ground. "Oh don't worry about that. The two of you will live to see me grow up. I guarantee it."

Sakura looked behind her, and allowed a watery smile, "You're late, idiot."

"Of course I'm late," the man replied with what seemed like indignation. "Hero's always come at the last possible moment."

Kushina and Minato turned to look at the source of the voice, and their eyes widened in surprise and recognition at the form which was so familiar, yet so eerily different. He had Minato's eyes, and his spiked blonde hair, yet he had Kushina's face and her silly grin. He looked like he had walked through a grinder. His body was covered in half healed scrapes, cuts and bruises. His clothes ragged remnants of a black longcoat with crimson flames at the hem, orange pants, jumper and a dark amber flak jacket.

He walked, no, limped over to them and stood beside Sakura. His eyes entirely focused on the now struggling form of the Kyubi no Kitsune. He may have forced Kushina to break her chakra chains, but the remnants surrounding the strongest of the nine was still there, and making it difficult for the demon to break free.

He looked at Sakura, eyes curious. "Where's Sasuke?"

She looked at him for what seemed like an eternity, before her head bowed. "He's… he's."

Naruto's eyes seemed to lose their sheen, "I see. It really was a one way trip."

Sakura could do nothing more than nod.

Naruto looked at the Kyubi, slowly breaking free of its chains. "Did he get the bastard?"

"Yes,"

Naruto smiled, though it wasn't a happy one. "Good. Then let's finish the job."

* * *

_**Originally I was only planning on this being a four chapter special, it still might be, but I might place it up to five chapters. I would have made this one longer, but with the mass of people sending me messages asking when the chapter would be ready I was forced to step up from my schedule. **_

_**This was one hell of a crazy chapter. It was the first one where I went back multiple times to make subtle changes while I went along. The odd paragraph added here, the odd sentence removed there. I had several things I had trouble with, the flashback, how their identities were supposed to be presented, how to get to the final stage, and so on. I'm actually worried this hasn't met up to your expectations. I am treading on thin ice here, considering I'm probably one of the first writers to think up this scenario, and I wanted to get it right.**_

_**As always reviews would be most welcome, constructive criticism is appreciated, and flaming will be met by the combined might of the nine Jinchuriki, the seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Akatsuki, the five Kages, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the devil, god and all of the armies in between.**_

_**Enjoy!**_


	4. Now or Never

_**Chapter 4**_

_**Now or Never**_

The Kyubi reared its head back and roared in all its anger and rage, allowing its aura of hatred and malice to descend upon the surrounding area like a thick blanket. The strongest of the nine continued to struggle against the loosening chakra chains, tails flailing and body bucking as it tried to throw off its restraints.

At the other side of the clearing the last two members of Team Seven stared the great behemoth down, minds kicking into high gear as they both tried to formulate a plan. Finally Naruto sighed, startling his pink haired teammate.

"There's only one way I can think off that's going to work." He said at last, looking at his childhood crush with a sad smile.

"That's why you usually leave me to do all the thinking idiot." There was no malice or annoyance in her voice as she spoke, only a sorrow filled smile.

He caught her eyes and held them, piercing blue piercing into emerald green. "Can you think of a better way?"

How much she wanted to tell him that she did have another way, another plan which didn't require the huge burden, the huge sacrifice he was already about to take on his shoulders. Naruto had already burdened himself with so much, just hours after his birth. If Sakura could she would be the one to take this burden on her shoulders, but she didn't have the chakra capacity to do it.

"There has to be another way," she replied stubbornly, hugging her arms around her sides. "There has too."

He smiled at her, but a sudden roar of anger rolled over them, forcing them to look up at their enemy. The ancient Nine Tailed Demon Fox was thrashing even harder against the chains holding it down. Naruto could see the anchor like objects imbedded in the ground begin to be pulled free. It was only a matter of time.

"You're…" Naruto and Sakura both turned to the origin of the voice to see the Yondaime Hokage, watching the younger blonde with wide eyes. There was no mistaking it. His blonde hair was a little more vibrant, but that and his eyes were undoubtedly Namikaze, and his face, those cheeks reminded him so much of Kushina that it was surreal. "You're really him aren't you? You're really my son."

Naruto blinked at his father's direction, before bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. Minato nearly gawked. It was so Kushina like. So much so that his wife, looking at him from her kneeling position, had her mouth slightly opened in a stunned silence, "Um, hi mom, hi dad."

The Kyubi had released itself from the chains around its head and neck and with a snarl darted forward, jaws open.

Naruto watched as the jaws came ever closer, and closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind and soul to the surrounding natural chakra, not the chakra of a single being, but the chakra which permeated the air, the great forests, the mountains, everything. With a deep breath he jumped high into the air with a chakra propelled leap.

Red pigment seemed to bleed into his eyelids, and when he opened his eyes his once blue eyes were replaced by pulsing golden orbs with bar like pupils. Sage mode fully activated he looked down upon the head of the Kyubi, nearly twenty meters below, baleful crimson eyes glaring up at him. Naruto glared right back, and assembled a large amount of Sage chakra into his right palm.

The swirling ball of blue energy came into existence, hovering above his palm. Slowly but surely it began to grow and pulse, becoming three then four times it original size. He straightened his body out then, darting down towards his opponent's huge head. He waited until he was within a few meters of his target, and then thrust out his palm.

"Senpō: Ōdama Rasengan (Sage Art: Great Ball Rasengan)!"

"Ōdama Rasengan (Great Ball Rasengan)!"

Surprised Naruto looked to his right to see his father barely a couple of meters. The Yondaime's own Rasengan, half the size as his own but still big seemed to meld together with Naruto's more powerful variant, creating a Rasengan even greater than the original. Father and son looked into each other's blue orbs, and smiled.

The Rasengan, now the size of the giant fox demon's head slammed right on the top of its skull, sending it slamming into the earth with a pained scream. The pure force behind the attack caused the ground below the fox's huge head to crater. Naruto and Minato used the momentum to jump back, performing backward somersaults and landing in a pair of crouches before the creature.

He turned to Sakura, "That won't keep it down for long."

"What are we going to do then?" Kushina asked, groggily getting to her feet.

"There's only one thing we can do." Minato replied, taking a step forward towards the monstrous Fox, still gazed by their combined strike. "I'll-"

"Use the Shiki Fūjin to seal the Kyubi inside both yourself and your newly born son right?" Minato looked at Naruto stunned, seeing his melancholy smile. He looked to Sakura who didn't seem all that surprised, and then too Kushina who looked absolutely shocked by what she had heard.

"Why," she asked, voice on the verge of breaking, "Why would you do that? If I had used my power to kill the Kyubi along with myself then Naruto would still have you!"

Minato looked at her with an almost overwhelming mixture of guilt and pain in his eyes. He opened his mouth to reply, only to be stopped by Naruto, who spoke for him. "It's because of many things. Mainly though, it was because he wanted you to be able to meet me several years from now. My dad was willing to give his life away so that you could meet me, talk to me, and see me as a grown up."

The red head looked up at the grown up version of her son, only to see him smile widely. "And you know what. I was glad he did, because I didn't just get the chance to meet my father again, I got the chance to meet my mom, to talk to her, to fight alongside her in controlling the Kyubi. It was one of the happiest moments of my life, to meet you face to face mom."

"Naruto…" The emotions were too great for her to speak further.

"And you know what, I think I wanted more." She looked up at him, "That's one of the main reasons why we're here. Sasuke wanted to kill Madara before he could begin his reign of fear and murder, and protect his family. Sakura wanted to back us up and reduce the casualties of the Kyubi attack as much as possible, and me," he looked at both his mother and father with a forlorn smile. "I wanted to save both you and dad, as well as help save Konoha from this disaster. Please, let us finish the job."

He turned around to face the Kyubi, and to not allow his parents to see the solitary tear trailing down his cheek. His dad was as cool as his memory, and his mom was so beautiful. It may not be for him, but he wanted to protect these two people. "Please let us complete our mission. Sakura, back me up!"

Sakura smiled, and nodded. "You have to ask?"

"Oh," Naruto whispered, almost as an afterthought. "Just one last thing, when we become Genin again can we be in the same team? I would like that more than anything."

Sakura's smile grew ever so slightly, "I hope I won't be as violent as I remember."

"Probably won't. I doubt I'd be seeking so much attention next time around." Naruto smiled as he began making hand seals. The signs came with practise, Snake, boar, ram, rabbit, dog, rat, bird, horse, snake and finishing with a clap of the hands.

He was in his mindscape again, looking up at the huge ball of raw chakra, once belonging to the Kyubi no Yoko, now belonging to him. Surrounding him and this monumental ball of white energy were the tall forms of four ancient Tori gates of faded crimson, standing like ever watchful sentinels, unmoving guardians of this power. Smiling Naruto raised his hand to this ball, calling upon its power for the last time.

"Shiki Fūjin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal)!"

The Shinigami, the death god himself slowly appeared behind him. Surrounding by six orbs or light purple flame. The Shinigami was as terrifying as he had imagined. A demonic entity dressed in a white robe, his hair white and spike, skin a dark purple, eyes black with yellow sclera and pupils an all consuming black. A dagger was visible between his jagged teeth, and prayer beads tied around his right arm and hand.

Naruto could hear his laughter, dark and ominous as it looked upon the Kyubi. _So this is what my dad saw before he died, this was what Jiji saw before he died. _

"No,"

Naruto looked down to see his father staring up at him, "Why did it have to be you? This was my burden to take; mine and mine alone."

Naruto couldn't help but smile, "You think I would let you make this mistake twice. This time it will be me who becomes the sacrifice to seal away this monster. That way I will still be the Kyubi's host, but I will have the advantage in having you two beside me to lead me onwards and become what you wanted me to be. You don't know how much I needed you two, how the village needed you two. The old man was good, but he was also getting old."

Minato knew it was already too late to stop his son from doing what he was about to do. He had already completed the seals, summoned the Shinigami. He cursed himself for not being fast enough to stop this young man from taking his place. "Don't look so depressed dad. You're not really losing me, I'm right over there, and as for mom Sakura did her job well. If you get her to a hospital within a couple of hours then she'll survive."

"You don't get it do you?" Minato cried out, grabbing his son's arms and giving him a shake. His sudden movement stunned Naruto. "I did it because you're my son. I believed heart and soul that you would be the one to lead the world to a time of peace."

He smiled sadly, "Then wouldn't it be better if you and mom were there beside me while I did it?"

As he spoke the Shinigami outstretched his arm, imbedding himself into Naruto's back and through his stomach, shredding all clothing around that space. A single seal appeared, covering his usual five elements seal which kept the Kyubi in place. Naruto looked down, and besides the situation smiled when the new seal didn't subvert the old. His precautions had worked pretty well.

He turned to Minato, "Well what are you waiting for? Make the necessary seals!"

Minato seemed torn for a moment, before nodding his head and spinning towards his newborn son, already propped on a large cushion and crib. Both he and Sakura immediately began drawing the seals needed for this manoeuvre.

The hand and arm of the Shinigami appeared from his stomach, a necklace of holy beads tied around his clawed hand, and flew across the field, slamming into the Kyubi's upper right foreleg and imbedding itself in place.

Naruto looked up at the monster, and allowed a grim smile to cross his face, "Seal."

It seemed like the Nine Tailed Demon Fox's very essence, his very soul, had been ripped from his being. A barely coherent mass of energy taking the shape of its owner rose from its skin and fur. Before becoming multiple tendrils of fiery chakra, soaring across the field and imbedding itself in Naruto's gut. The Shinigami reached up with his free hand, taking the knife it held in its teeth, and brought it down between

The Demon Fox didn't have any time to react before the Shinigami did his work, taking half of his power away and sealing it inside himself, just like the original contract dictated. Naruto smiled, before coughing up blood. "Alright, that's one… problem down… one to go!"

Minato and Sakura looked up and nodded as they finished the final few seals around the crib. His baby self possessing a four elements seal on his stomach, just like his own. "It's done."

"Then that's all you need to be here for." Naruto replied, "Get my mom to the hospital as fast as you can. I and Sakura will deal with him while you go. Don't worry the Sandaime will be here shortly."

Minato shook his head, followed by Kushina. "He… no your our son, we won't leave either of you alone. If we're going then we're going together."

Naruto looked at him for a moment, shocked, before a smile curved up his lips and he nodded. "Alright then, back us up."

As he spoke Sakura moved, positioning herself between the baby and the Kyubi. Naruto stood where he was, "Alright, let's finish this!"

* * *

The first place he had gone too was the small cabin, hidden in the forests. There he saw the dead bodies of his beloved wife and the midwife assigned to help in Kushina's birth, as well as a man he did not know. The Yondaime, his wife and newborn child were missing. Sarutobi had knelt by Biwako's side, shed tears for her, and then rose and steeled himself.

There would be time to grieve later, for now he needed to find Minato. He needed to find out what was going on, and how he could assist his successor in subduing the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. He took to the trees, not waiting for his two Jonin bodyguards to catch up, following the trail of monstrous chakra to its source. The Kyubi would be there, as would Minato, he was sure of it.

Sarutobi Hiruzen exploded from the treeline, landing at the edge of the forest. His wizened old eyes locked onto the weakened form of the Kyubi no Yoko, covered in loosened chakra chains and dazed from what must have been a powerful attack.

He broke out in a run, heading right towards the small group of figures standing before the massive beast. The aging Hokage felt a sudden spark of chakra and skidded to a halt, something was electrifying the air. A powerful barrier had been erected between him and those fighting. He took a step forward, and reached out with his hand. An orange barrier appeared before him, rippling like a stone dropped into a pond of still water.

"Sandaime-sama!" His two Jonin bodyguards dropped down from the trees, landing in crouches to his left and right. The two veterans looked at the imposing Kyubi, who although weakened by the Shiki Fujin was still a deadly force.

"What is happening?"

"We're too late, Minato has put up a barrier around the Kyubi." The Sandaime Hokage slammed his fist into the barrier in frustration, watching as the glass thin layer rippled but held. "Whatever they're planning to do they're doing it alone."

He watched with widening eyes as the Nine Tails body changed before his eyes, like it had aged from the prime of its life to the end. It's once great muscles sagged. Its crimson fur greyed and began to fall away. Only one seal in all of Fuinjutsu was capable of doing that to a demon as powerful as the Nine Tailed Demon Fox.

"It is the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. I can't believe he actually used it." Sarutobi's voice showed his surprise.

"But the Demon Fox still stands. He didn't seal all of it."

"… but it's shrunk."

* * *

His eyes were getting heavy. Darkness assaulted the edges of his vision, slowly spreading across his sight. Naruto shook his head in a vain attempt to dispel it, but it was no good. He was dying, he knew this, and he was prepared to do so as long as he finished his last task.

He looked to his pink haired teammate, and shared a nod. Sakura had made a promise that if she survived this she would disappear into the population of Konoha, become a Shinobi with a new name and new history, start her life afresh and keep an eye on their younger selves. He was positive that his father would help her in the task.

Naruto felt a wave of nausea, and stumbled. He was caught by Minato, who allowed his son to rest half his weight on himself as he half carried half dragged Naruto over to the crib where his infant self was placed. He fell to his knees, and looked down at the baby, "Alright, now for the Eight Trigrams Seal."

The Kyubi rose from his place, shaking his huge head from side to side to dispel the nausea and dizziness from the dual Rasengan strike. The chains had loosened to the point that he had freed his forearms. The paralysis of the Dead Demon Seal was slowly wearing off, thanks to the deteriorating health of its user.

His eyes stared at the small crib, the child within and the mass of seals. He raised a clawed hand and with an almost blurring swiftness descended upon the crib. Only one person stood between him and the child, and that was the pink haired insect. Kushina saw it, as did Minato but before they could even make a move Sakura jumped between them, hands blurring through the seals of the tiger, hare, boar and dog before slamming her hands against the ground.

"_Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall)!"_

She condensed all of her chakra into the earth, manipulated it and activated the Jutsu just as the fox's claw came within a few meters. A wall of hardened rock sprang up, nearly twenty meters high, ten wide and three deep. Even as weakened as the Kyubi was her wall was still not quite strong enough.

It slowed the Nine Tailed Demon Fox's strike, but it still pierced through the rock and kept going towards Minato and the two Naruto's. A blur of motion and Naruto moved, standing between the Kyubi and his younger self. He felt the black claw pierce his back, and exit his belly, only to keep going, right into Sakura's stomach and exiting through her back.

Both fell to their knees, feeling the Kyubi continue on, its bloodied claw now a few feet away from the baby's sleeping face. Minato appeared behind them, face set in a growl of anger for the creature, and slammed a fully formed killing Rasengan into its limb. In its weakened state he felt the Kyubi's foreleg bone crack and break. Kushina, seeing the limb continue on its course also concentrated what little chakra she had, and released a few strands of chakra chains from her back, looping and tightening around both of the monsters forearms, further slowing it down.

Sakura coughed up blood, before gathering the last few bursts of her chakra and going through the half seal of the bird before slamming her right hand onto the earth. _"Doton: Doryūsō (Earth Release: Rising Stone Spears)!"_

A spike of stone exploded from the earth right beneath the beast's broken arm, piercing right through, crushing bone and stabbing cartilage. She heard the monster scream in agony and allowed a small smile to grace her lips before she fell forward, right into Naruto's waiting arms.

"Not the best idea we ever had huh?" she asked softly, trying to laugh before breaking down into a series of gut-wrenching coughs, blood dribbling down the sides of her mouth.

"Sakura," Naruto sobbed, burying his face into the top of his best friend's head. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

She looked up at him, smiling weakly. "I'm not."

Tears fell unbidden from his azure eyes as he looked into her deadening emerald. Sakura's eyes were no longer capable of focusing, eyelids drooping. "Naruto, I'm so… tired."

He planted a kiss on her forehead, "Sleep Sakura, it's all over now."

She nodded, returning his embrace with a weak hug of her own. They were like that for an eternity, before her hands went limp and fell to her sides, her head pressed against his chest. He let out a choked sob, before violently shaking his head. He had to seal the Kyubi now. Otherwise his friend's sacrifices would all be for nothing.

He reached up, wiping a spray of blood from his mouth and began to shakily make the needed seals for the Summoning Jutsu, but was barely able to make the middle seal of the bird. He felt like he was in the middle of a tunnel with a small opening at the far end.

He was barely aware of his father coming to his side, blurring through the needed seals of the boar, dog, bird, monkey and ram before slamming his hand onto the ground. A series of familiar black runes inscribed itself on the dirt and a puff of smoke blurred all vision. When it cleared he was barely able to see the familiar toad with dark blue and brownish orange skin.

The Scroll Toad, its lower body covered by a huge scroll looked to Naruto, then to Minato, then up at the Kyubi no Yoko. The toad screamed in surprise, "The Nine Tails. Minato what the hell happened here!"

"Gerotora, I'm entrusting you with the key to the seal. Take it to Jiraiya-sama. He'll know what to do with it."

"Got it." The Toad answered, making the appropriate hand seal. The paper of the scroll began to wrap around him, the symbols for the key to the eight trigrams seal appeared on the paper as it wrapped around the Scroll Toad. Before he disappeared the Toad looked to Naruto, and felt a sense of déjà vu, like he had met this dying kid somewhere before, then he vanished in a small explosion of smoke.

"Is it… done?" Naruto wheezed.

The elder blonde, feeling tears fall down his cheeks, put a shaking hand on his shoulder. "Yea kid, it's done."

"Then there's no time to lose. Bye dad, take care of yourself and mom for me." He made the last hand seal, and slammed his hand onto the ground. Before he blacked out completely he was able to mutter the needed words to finish the forbidden Jutsu. "Eight Trigrams… seal."

* * *

The sun dipped over the horizon, casting its light upon the Land of Fire. Leaves fluttered from the branches of the trees, floating with the breeze before landing softly on the ground. The devastation left by the Kyubi no Yoko's attack was all there to see. A tenth of the village had been destroyed, the casualties numbered in the hundreds, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

Minato stood in the middle of the clearing that just moments before housed the titanic sealing of the greatest of the Nine Beasts. Kushina, with Naruto in her arms, had been transported to the hospital, her cheeks slimy from crying, hands holding her baby boy like she was expecting him to vanish at any moment. He had just heard that she was stable, and little Naruto was sound asleep in his own crib.

He shouldn't be alive. He was the one who was supposed to take the burden of sealing the Kyubi no Yoko. It was his plan, he shouldn't have allowed anyone else to do it but him, least of all his own grown up son. He looked down at the three bodies of his son and teammates. Arms crossed across their chests, faces strangely serene, caked in mud and dried blood.

Before him were the bodies of three teenagers, teenagers who in this timeline were just babies. Sarutobi stood beside him, looking at his successor with a piercing gaze. "So they are from the future, I must admit I can scarcely believe it."

"Neither can I," Minato agreed as he came down into a crouch beside his son, looking into his dead blue orbs for a handful of moments before ghosting his right hand across his whiskered cheeks, closing his eyes. "But it is the truth."

"I believe you." Hiruzen said as he studied the three bodies. "So Uchiha Madara was still alive. That in itself seemed impossible, but I suppose if these three were from twenty years in the future then a man living for over a hundred years after his supposed death doesn't sound too impossible."

"Yes, but there's no need to worry, he's truly dead this time." Minato looked at his predecessor, and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're wife has been avenged."

He nodded, lower lip trembling. The Sandaime reached up to wipe the unspilt tears from his eyes. "My son will be devastated."

Minato could only nod.

"This boy, he was your son?"

Another nod.

"You must be so proud that he turned out the way he did."

"I am." Minato said, before finally blurting it out. "It should have been me Sarutobi-sama. The Dead Demon Seal was my idea. I shouldn't have allowed him to use it."

Hiruzen looked at him, "You couldn't have known he was able to use that technique. In this timeline you are the only one who could utilise it."

"I know, I know all that," The Legendary Yellow Flash almost snapped, but not quite, "Doesn't make it any easier to know that my son died in my place."

"He died so you and Kushina would live." Sarutobi consoled, placing a hand on the younger mans shoulder and making him look into his wizened eyes. "With his help we suffered far less casualties than we should, many people lived thanks to him. Live Minato, live for him, and his comrades. Be there for your son as he grows, and make sure their sacrifices aren't in vain."

Minato looked into the eyes of a man who was wise beyond his years and managed a nod. "I will Sandaime-sama, I will."

Any further conversation was cut off by a sudden bright light, but not from the ascending sun over them, but below them. White light slowly encompassed the three bodies, looking an awful lot like a mass of leaves fluttering around them, and then they vanished in a flash, the masses of bright white lights flowing with the breeze into the sky.

"Have you ever seen something like that?" Minato breathed, his grief replaced by awe.

"Never," was his predecessors reply.

As the sun fully rose Minato allowed a sad smile to spread his lips. "Goodbye Sasuke, goodbye Sakura… goodbye Naruto."

* * *

_**Authors Note 1: **Sappy I know, but I had to finish it somehow didn't I. And… that's a rap…kidding. Next up is a short epilogue, thank you everyone who followed this story thus far, and I hope I didn't disappoint you with this piece. _

_**Author's Note 2: **And no, there is no pairings in this fic other than Minato/Kushina, the Sakura/Naruto scene implies no romance in any way, only two dying friends saying goodbye, so don't complain about it._

_**Author's Note 3: **Now onto less joyful news, I have nothing against anonymous reviews as long as they aren't flamers. I got some dickless bastard who flamed the hell out of my last chapter, called himself Ken, imaginative or what? Anyway his review went something along the lines of 'Kill yourself, but make sure you take down this shit first'. I hope he falls off a cliff or something the useless prick. If u agree with me post 'Anonymous Flamers can go to hell' at the end of your reviews. Share the love, lol._


	5. Important Author's Note

_**Naruto**_

_**A Moment in History**_

_**Important Notice**_

First of all I would just like to say thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, alerted and favourited this story. I will admit that I didn't expect it to get the landslide response that it did get and it made me unbelievably happy that so many people liked it. Thank you everyone .

Right now that that's out of the way. I have been attempting several different ways to write the epilogue to this story. Every time I make it three or four pages in I'm suddenly not happy with it and leave it in a folder which was designated maybe. Then a problem arose when the memory drive on my laptop gave out on me and I lost everything, thankfully the work for my University was backed up on a memory pen but all of my fanfiction disappeared.

In the beginning I only planned to write this as a short 'what if?' story and leave it at that. But then I got a review from someone who almost begged me to write a sequel, and while the idea had crossed my mind on an occasion or two I decided against it. Then more people began reviewing asking for the same thing, a sequel to this story.

I have written this notice to you guys to tell you two very important updates:

1. There will not be an Epilogue for this story, consider the last chapter the Epilogue.

2. There will be a Sequel to this story.

This story will _not _be published straight away.

I will admit that I am running into a road block with my Fanfiction writing, mainly because I have so much work for my last semester of University that I'm either too busy doing coursework or I'm simply too tired to open up my laptop. This might change when I finally finish in June, but until then updates for all of my stories will be sporadic at best and non-existent at worst.

Anyway thank you all for listening and I will post up another author's note to this story when I begin publishing the chapters.

Thanks for reading.

Darth Malleus.


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